Taiwan – The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

By Daniel Morris | 9. November 2021

IV. The corporate responsibility to respect human rights

B. Actions taken

  • State encouragement of respect by businesses for human rights (page 11)

‘The Taiwan government also provides resources and support, including the following: it uses the “Statute for Industrial Innovation” and other legislation to encourage and reward sustainable development; […]’

  • Greater information transparency (page 13)

‘[…] in response to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), our government has set up a number of corporate excellence awards to recognize strong performance in such areas as transparency and business ethics, gender equality, and talent development. The purpose is to get companies to strengthen disclosure of non-financial information and implement human rights policies.’

 

Appendix 1: Concrete actions taken by Taiwan to fulfil the state obligation to protect

  • Promotion of corporate social responsibility (page 27)

‘…The MOEA’s Small and Medium Enterprise Administration has issued the “Principles for Registration of Social Innovation Organizations.” This document calls upon social innovation enterprises to disclose their organizational goals and social missions, and to state how they coincide with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and/or Taiwan’s efforts regarding social issues.’

 

Appendix 2: Concrete actions taken by Taiwan to ensure respect by businesses for human rights

  • Governments can provide information and support to enterprises. The Taiwan government has implemented several regulations and measures to provide enterprises with guidance and support, including the following: (pages 31-32)

‘…Article 26 of the “Statute for Industrial Innovation” provides as follows: To encourage the sustainable development of industries, the central authorities in charge of relevant enterprises may provide enterprises with grants or guidance to promote the following matters: (a) Assisting enterprises in adapting to international regulations for environmental protection and health and safety. (b) Promoting the development and application of technology relating to greenhouse gas reduction and pollution prevention. (c) Encouraging enterprises to improve the efficiency of their energy and resource consumption and to adopt relevant technologies that may recycle/renew energy/resources and save energy and water. (d) Production of non-toxic, less-polluting products and other products that reduce the burden on the environment.

In order to spur companies to follow CSR principles, Article 28 of the “Statute for Industrial Innovation” provides that “to encourage enterprises to fulfil their social responsibility, the central authorities in charge of relevant enterprises shall assist enterprises to actively disclose the relevant environmental information regarding their production processes, products, services, and other aspects of sustainable development, and the enterprises with outstanding performance may be eligible to receive commendations or awards.”’

  • In order to strengthen enterprises’ CSR implementation and enhance human rights awareness, the Taiwanese government and civil society have implemented a number of support measures, including the following:  (pages 32-33)

‘[…] The Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy has established the “Taiwan Academy of Corporate Sustainability (TACS),” which works with universities, enterprises, NGOs, and government agencies to organize international seminars, workshops, forums, and other types of activities to promote the SDGs and sustainable development.’

The Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy has launched the Taiwan Sustainability Value Index (TWSVI). The TWSVI uses economic, environmental, social, disclosure, and sustainability evaluations to select company stocks that have both financial and long-term sustainability value.

The Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy cooperates with the government to develop renewable energy, strengthen the promotion of green finance and sustainable finance, and help enterprises to comply with the “Principles for Responsible Banking” and the recommendations of the “Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.”

The Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy has established the “Taiwan Academy of Corporate Sustainability (TACS),” which works with universities, enterprises, NGOs, and government agencies to organize international seminars, workshops, forums, and other types of activities to promote the SDGs and sustainable development.

In addition, in order to promote the development of a sustainable investment environment, TWSE subsidiary Taiwan Index Plus Corporation and FTSE Russell jointly released the “FTSE4Good TIP Taiwan ESG Index,” the first ESG index that fully integrates environmental, social, corporate governance, and financial indicators in Taiwan.

The Taipei Exchange and the Taiwan Index Plus Corporation have joined forces with the Taiwan Business Council for Sustainable Development to collaborate in developing the TIP Taiwan TPEx CSR Index, which selects component stocks on the basis of whether the issuing companies satisfy certain CSR performance criteria. The Index thus encourages companies to take their CSR obligations seriously and to fulfill them. We also hope to see companies issue ETFs, ETNs, index warrants, index funds, and other index products that would provide investors new channels via which to take part in socially responsible investing.’